Bronco broken

[missioncontrol]

Well was on my way to work last night when I noticed my temp almost to high. Pulled to the side of the interstate and there was steam everywhere managed to nurse it to the next exit to find my radiator was cracked. The funny thing is that one of my stops so the truck could cool was right on the exit ramp. When I started it back up to make it to the grocery store parking lot I didn't realize that I didn't turn my lights on (11:30 PM) but the police officer did notice, and blue lighted me as soon as I got to the parking lot and was getting out of my truck. She thought that I was a drunk driver, once she found out it was mearly car trouble she left. now once I get out of class I have to replace my radiator 

any body ever change one before???

how hard is it?

[NoOne=NBA=]

You're lucky she didn't stuff a gun in your face.

A friend and I were leaving an auto parts store one day, that had a car lot across the street, with the big daylight flood lights.
We didn't turn on our headlights because of the ambient light, got down the road a ways, and then turned them on.

During that time, a cop came up behind us, and followed us into another store parking lot, and THEN lit us up.
He got out, gun drawn, and told us to get our hands out where he could see them.
After he got up to the car, gun STILL pointing at us, he gave us some speech about how he had been turning on his siren, lights, etc... for 1/2 mile, and the only reason we wouldn't have stopped was that:

1) We were drunk
2) We wanted to lure him to a dark place and kill him
3) We must not have seen him

We were in my friend's mom's Pinto, with an AM radio that wasn't even ON, and couldn't hear a siren directly behind us?
Give me a break.

After giving us his speech, he jumped back into his car, and took off before we could get a badge number, or name.
You just don't think about things like getting someone's badge number, when the muzzle of a gun is aimed at your face.

[Tiger-Heli]

If you have tools it's pretty easy to change out.

Stuff to consider - you might want to get replacement hoses and clamps.  Sometimes the hoses kinda melt to the old radiator and the easiest way to get them off is to cut them.  Also, if it's an automatic, you might needs some trans fluid to add, as the trans cooler is part of the radiator.

Don't know if it has an electric or engine run fan?

Otherwise, basically, drain radiator, remove fan (or shroud), remove sensor if electric fan, disconnect trans lines and hoses, remove radiator, transfer stuff over, reinstall.

[Sephroth57]

im assuming on a bronco you got a pretty straightforward engine bay, unlike mine which has lines for things running everywhere, pulling out my radiator is a pain

[missioncontrol]

im assuming on a bronco you got a pretty straightforward engine bay, unlike mine which has lines for things running everywhere, pulling out my radiator is a pain

The benefits of a Ford truck... it has plenty of room to work on 

[Minwah]

The benefits of a Ford truck... it has plenty of room to work on 

You want to work on a late Mini...knuckle scrape galore! 

[missioncontrol]

You want to work on a late Mini...knuckle scrape galore!

[Crazy Cooter]

Full size Bronco = cakewalk.

Check the upper & lower hoses, they should squish without cracks when you squeeze them.  If they don't, then replace them too.  With the right tools, it shouldn't take more than an hour or so.

[Stingray]

Actually pulling the radiator on a Mini is pretty easy, only hard part is the lower hose, but I've pulled mine so many times I think I've got it down to an art. Now if Minwah's Mini is a newer model with the radiator in the front instead of the side, that's a whole different animal.

But, we aren't talking about a Mini. A full sized Ford truck is a piece of cake to R&R the radiator. Really nothing to it. Don't buy a new one until you check to see ifyours can be repaired though. Many times they crack around where the hoses connect, which is very easy to fix.

And I second new hoses and clamps unless yours are less than say a year or so old.

-S

[Clonedsheep]

Be careful with the tranny cooling lines. You should use a flare wrench for that but most people use a regular open ended wrench.

[Stingray]

That's assuming it even has transmission cooling lines. If it does you really need to use the correct wrench, those lines are very easy to strip or break.

-S

[missioncontrol]

**Fixed**

The tranny lines were a real PITA I didn't want to over tighten them and end up stripping them out so and the bottom line was sort of awkward to get to. The only other problem was removing the bottom hose. I couldn't get it off from up top so had to go underneath and ended up getting a face full of anti-freeze. The best part of it being a truck was that there was plenty of room underneath that I didn't have to jack it up....

mission accomplished 

[Stingray]

Well done.

-S

[Crazy Cooter]

Did you spend some time smushing the old radiator?  I always loved crushing the fins as a kid.  My Dad... well... he had other feelings about me doing that  .

[missioncontrol]

Man to add to my luck........

on my way to school today after work I looked in the rearview to see a whole bunch of smoke behind me



turns out a smaller hose not even near the radiator broke. luckely I had a spare and swapped it out in minutes.........

[Jess--]

sounds like you have similar luck with hoses to me, heater hose broke on me while doing 115 on motorway, first I knew of it was when the engine dumped all its water through the heater vents (straight over my feet)

[ChadTower]

Hosers.

[Stingray]

They both got hosed.

-S